Ohio's coyote comeback good news for gardeners - Donna Miller's Animals in the News
Sunday, March 09, 2008
Donna Miller
Plain Dealer Reporter
Ohio's coyote population is growing. That's good news for many of you.
Coyotes prowling your yard will eat the rabbits and rodents that munched your garden. They will scare away trash-raiding raccoons and the deer eyeing your favorite bushes. They also eat the eggs of those messy Canada geese so many of you loathe.
"I call coyotes nature's animal-control officers, because they control the populations of every kind of urban wildlife people complain about, and do it so neatly, quietly and efficiently that most of the time most folks have no idea that coyotes are among them," said Merritt Clifton, editor of the international Animal People newspaper.
Coyotes rarely bite people, but they can make meals of cats and small dogs.